Commuters drag climate activists from London trains

People look at Extinction Rebellion protesters glued onto the train at the Shadwell DLR station in London, Britain in this still image obtained from social media video dated October 17, 2019. TWITTER @MAXIMUS3005/via REUTERS

A bearded man wearing a suit walks on the roof of a London Underground train as a crowd of clearly infuriated commuters yell and point at him.

A few seconds later, another man leaps up and grabs his legs as the protester tries to kick him off. They both fall, and the protester is buried among the angry mob, who seem to attack him on the floor.

Video of Thursday morning’s episode in eastern London, which was circulated widely, illustrated the complicated passions that have been ignited by protests in the British capital by Extinction Rebellion, a group of environmental activists who employ radical disruptive tactics to draw attention to the climate crisis.

A total of eight activists were arrested on suspicion of obstructing trains, the British transport police said Thursday. The actions suspended some lines, creating significant delays in the transport system.

Extinction Rebellion has been holding protests in London for about two weeks. Three days ago, the police banned the group’s actions in the centre of the city.

In other protests, an activist was chased by a commuter on top of a train in Canning Town, in eastern London, while some demonstrators glued themselves to a train in Shadwell station, also in the east of the capital.

Sean O’Callaghan, the assistant chief constable of the British Transport Police, called the behaviour of passengers in Canning Town was “unacceptable,” saying that it was “concerning to see that a number of commuters took matters into their own hands, displaying violent behaviour to detain a protester.”

Mayor Sadiq Khan of London said Thursday that the activists’ protests were “illegal,” “extremely dangerous” and “counterproductive.”

But Extinction Rebellion said in a statement that the act was “borne of necessity in the face of an impending disaster.”

“This is disruption with a purpose since we will all encounter far greater disruption in the future if we don’t radically change our society,” Valerie Milner-Brown, a spokeswoman for the group, said in the statement.

“We can already see the horrifying early effects of the climate and ecological emergency in parts of the Global South, and it’s clear that this will be coming our way soon,” she added.

The group said that they had taken measures to minimize the risk to commuters trapped in the subway and that the police had been informed about the protests in advance, adding that the actions were part of “an ongoing campaign intended to increase pressure upon the government.”

Disruption lies at the heart of the group’s tactics, and affiliated activists are urged to seek to get arrested. For maximum disruption, the movement’s actions are focused on capital cities.

In the past two weeks, Extinction Rebellion action has shut down roads and bridges around Parliament in London. Last week, James Brown, a British Paralympic medallist, protested by climbing on top of a British Airways plane at London City Airport.

A judicial review of the ban is underway, the BBC reported Wednesday.

Extinction Rebellion attracted criticism on social media after the group compared its noncompliance with the police ban to the actions of the American civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.

One user called Mal Jutley suggested in a Twitter post on Thursday that the movement had lost support from Londoners because of the disruptive action on the London Underground.

He said the delays were “a nightmare” for people just trying to go to work, adding, “the Rosa Parks comparison ... really??”